mechanical properties of glass-ionomer cement composed of zro2 and camgsi2o6

Glass ionomer cements (gics) are widely utilized in clinical restorative dental applications, which suffer from poor mechanical strength. recent research indicates that gic achieves optimal performance when modified with a lower percentage of filler materials, particularly when using nanoparticles, due to the resultant increase in surface area and packing density of the cement. notably, while some fillers enhance the mechanical properties of the cement, others fail to provide improvements. this study addressed a gap in the literature by investigating the impact of acidic/basic additives, such as diopside (camgsi2o6) and zirconia (zro2), on the properties of the cement. the reactivity of zirconia and diopside differs distinctly from traditional calcium-aluminosilicate glass when exposed to acidic conditions in gics. also, to clarify the impact of filler’s acidity/basicity on filler reactivity during cement setting, the potential for mechanical enhancement by using nano-sized particles is generally limited to the submicron scale. this research incorporated diopside at concentrations of 2, 4, and 6 wt.%, and zirconia at concentrations of 8, 10, and 12 wt.% into a glass powder component. results demonstrated that adding 8 wt.% zirconia led to a 49% enhancement in compressive strength, also improving microhardness by 16%, attributed to its non-reactive nature, minimal dissolution, and high inherent strength of zro2. in contrast, diopside had a detrimental effect due to its basic nature compared to that of glass powder. the base cement exhibited a setting time of 6.5 min, which slightly increased to 7.4, 7.6, and 7.9 min with the addition of 8, 10, and 12 wt.% zirconia, respectively, while diopside additions at 2, 4, and 6 wt.% resulted in more pronounced increases to 8.3, 8.7, and 9.1 min. zirconia showed better potential as a reinforcing filler, while diopside, due to its basicity, was less effective in enhancing mechanical performance.